REDtone wants to roll out WiMAX in West Malaysia

The Star has reported that REDtone International, one of the 4 licensed WiMAX operators in Malaysia is waiting for additional spectrum to roll out in West Malaysia. Just to recap, P1, AMAX & YTL were licensed to operate in West Malaysia while REDtone is the sole operator in East Malaysia. Among the 4, P1 and REDtone we’re the first to launch WiMAX in August 2008.

When we read this piece of news, we’re a little surprised by REDtone’s eagerness to venture into West Malaysia. Currently, REDtone is enjoying some sort of exclusive monopoly in Sarawak to operate WiMAX since 2008. It has been 2 years since launch but REDtone has failed to cover all major towns and cities of Sabah and Sarawak. This of course attracted a RM200,000 fine by MCMC for failing to achieve 25% target penetration in 2009.

With the current situation, it doesn’t make any sense for REDtone to step into West Malaysia. With AMAX struggling and YTL no where at sight, we are unconvinced that REDtone would fare any better. There are many Sabah and Sarawak residents who are in dire need of alternative to TM Streamyx as other wireless broadbands including 3G are still not widely available. REDtone should just focus their resources in East Malaysia instead of getting into a bullfight with other operators.

Currently P1 and REDtone are the only 2 WiMAX operators in Malaysia that are in commercial service. AMAX is still undergoing re-engineering while YTL is yet to launch commercially.

Check out our previous posts on REDtone WiMAX here.

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